Accelerator attachment



Se t. 16 192 w. G. STEWART ACCELERATOR ATTACHMENT F'iied June 18, 1921 avwtoo 214mm a 5 220;

Patented Sept. 16, 1924.

UNITED STATES ACCELERATOR ATTA Application filed June 18,

To all whom it may concern:

Bev it known that 1, WILLIAM G. STEWART, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at Windsor, in the Province of Ontario andDominion of.Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAccelerator Attachments, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to accelerators for use on motor cars andconsistsin a pneumatically actuated construction which is applicable either tocars unprovided with foot accelerators or to cars having accelerstorewhere .a more convenient location of the actuating means is desired. Forinstance, a location of accelerator switable for one operator may bevery inconvenient for another operator and also in longcontinued-driving it is restful for the opera tor to change the positionof his foot. Therefore, my improvement maybe advantageously used on anytype of motor car. I have, however, specifically shown it as applied toa car of the Ford type.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the attachment as installed;

Figure 2 is a perspective view; and

Figure 3 is a cross-section through the pneumatic bulb.

Certain makes of motor cars, as, for instance, the Ford, are unprovidedwith footoperated accelerators. They have, however, a hand-operatedcontrol for opening and closing the throttle, which includes a pair ofrock arms and a connecting rod or llnk. My improvement consists in apneumatically operated device, including a foot-actuated compressor bulband an expansionchamber operated thereby. Also, a substitute connectingrod having slidably engaged portions between which said expansionchamber is arranged.

In detail, A is the'steeringcolumn of a motor car and B the rock shaftadjacent to said column, which is actuated by the hand control and whichis provided at its lower end with a rock arm C having a rod connectionwith a rock arni D of the throttle. My attachment consists .in asubstitute rod E having at one end the bent. arm

F and at its opposite end an arm G, preferably adjustably connected by athreaded engagement with the rod, as indicated at H.

1,508,418 TEN OFFICE.

0, CANADA.

1921. Serial No. 478,639.

pivotally attached to the end of the rockarm. C, while the member Gpivotally en-' gages the rock arm D. L is a compressor bulb formed ofrubber or other suitable material and which is connected bya tubing Mwith an expansible chamber N, preferably a pair of peripherally attacheddisks. member-N is placed between the arm J and the bent arm F and theopposite sides of the disks are preferably engaged with said arms, as bymeans of stirrups 0.

With the device as described, whenever pressure is placed on the bulb L,the compressed air passing through the tube M will expand the disks andforce, the arms F and J apart from each other. As the arm J is held bythe rock arm C of the hand control, the efieet or" expansion of themember N is removed from the rod E relative thereto,

The I thereby rocking the throttle arm D. When ing L which is normallyclosed by means of a spring-pressed 'valve' P. This valve may be movedinwardly against thetension of its spring "to.permit the air in the bulbto escape when the latter is partly compressed and then may be closed byits spring to prevent ingress of air when the bulb is expanded. This,byreducing the pressure within the member L will permit externalatmospheric pressure to positively actuate the arms F and J towards eachother. If desired, a springQ may be sleeved'upon the rod E between acollar R thereon and the member I to operate in'conjunction with theexpansion of the bulb L in returning the throttle. This constitutes asafe device in case the pneumatic mechanism s ould fail to operate. 1

The device constructed as described can be manufactured at'jvery lowcost and any car in any convenient position. Thus, the operator canaccelerate by a foot in much the same manner as on standard motor carshaving foot accelerators.

Where my accelerator is placed upon a diflerent type of car, somemodifications may be required in the specific construction, but ingeneral the construction is the same.

One advantage of a pneumatically operated accelerator is thenon-positive resiliency of the same. With mechanically actuatedaccelerators it frequently happens, when driving over a rough road, thatit is diflicult to operate the motor smoothly. This is because anyvibration of the foot will be positively transmitted to the throttle butwith my pneumatic construction such vibrations will have no eiiect onthe throttle. In other words, the resiliency of the air will compensatefor quick vibrations.-

What I claim as my invention is:' a

1. An accelerator attachment :for motor cars comprising a substituteconnecting rod between the hand control and throttle, having membersrelatively movable longitudinally of the rod, a pneumatic compressorbulb and an expansible chamber connected with said bulb engaging saidrelatively movable members of the rod to actuate the same.

2. An accelerator attachment for motor cars comprising a substituteconnecting rod between the hand control and throttle, ineluding slidablyengaged members having adjacent laterally extendin arms, a pneumaticcompressor bulb, an an expansible chamber connected with said bulbinserted between said arms to relatively move the same.

3. A11 accelerator attachment for motor cars comprising a rod betweenthe hand control and throttle formed in relatively movable sectionshaving laterally projecting arms adjacent to each other, a pneumaticcompressor bulb, an expansible chamber connected therewith and insertedbetween said adjacent arms and secured thereto, the air within said bulbwhen said pressure is expanded being at less than atmospheric pressure,whereby said arms are drawn together by atmospheric pressure.

4. An accelerator for motor cars comprising a pneumatic compressor bulb,the pressure in said bulb normally being reduced below atmosphericpressure, an expansible chamber located to actuate the throttle, and v aflexible connection between said bulb and expansible member, wherebysaid bulb may be moved from one position to another.

5. An accelerator attachment for motor cars comprising a substituteconnecting rod between the hand control and throttle, having relativelymovable members, a pneumatic compressor bulb, and expansible meansconnected to said bulb and disposed between said members for moving thesame.

6. The combination with an accelerator mechanism for a motor vehicle, ofpneumatic means connected to said mechanism for actuating the samecomprising an expansible member and a bulb connected to said expansiblemember and adapted to be compressed to expand the same, the pres sure insaid bulb normally being'below atmospheric pressure whereby saidexpansible member will be contracted by atmospheric pressure to returnsaid accelerator mechanism to normal position when said bulb isexpanded. y

7. The combination with an accelerator mechanism for a motor vehicle, ofpneumatic means connected to said mechanism for actuating the samecomprising an expansible member and a bulb connected to said expansiblemember and adapted to be compressed to expand the same, the pressure insaid bulb normally being below atmospheric pressure whereby saidexpansible member will be contracted by atmospheric pressure to returnsaid accelerator mechanism to normal position when said bulb isexpanded, and means adapted to return said accelerator mechanism tonormal position upon failure of said expansible member to operate.

8. The combination with accelerator mechanism for a motor vehicle, offoot-operated compressor means, and fluid transmission means betweensaid compressor means and accelerator mechanism.

9. The combination with accelerator mechanism for a motor vehicle, offoot-operated compressor means freely shiftable to different operatinlocations, and a connection between sai compressor means and mechanismpermitting such shifting movement.

10. The combination with accelerator mechanism for a motor vehicle, offoot-operated compressor means freely shiftable todifi'erent operatinglocations and producing in its operation no reaction tending to shiftits location, and a'fiexible fluid transmission means between saidcompressor and said mechanism.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM G. STEWART.

